Addison-Lite
by kate811
Summary: Set during Season 7 - Song Beneath the Song. Addison notices something about Alex's new girlfriend. "You realize you're dating Addison-Lite," she pointed out. "She's me, but not me."
**Author's Note: I can't believe I'm writing Addex again. What can I say? They always suck me back in. This fic came about due to a deleted scene from the season 7 musical episode of Grey's. You do not need to have seen the scene to get this because I included all the dialogue from it in the story. If you want to see it though, you can google "Addison Alex Deleted Scene" and it's the first thing that comes up. The title was inspired by an episode of The Nanny. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Addison-Lite**

Seattle was not a place where good things happened. Bomb in a body cavity. Meredith almost drowned. Izzie got cancer. George got hit by a bus. Derek was shot. Karev was shot.

And now Callie. Thrown through a car windshield and fighting for her life, her preemie daughter struggling to survive in an outside world she shouldn't have had to know until months later.

Seattle was not a place where good things happened.

Addison pondered this as she stood over the baby's incubator monitoring her vital signs, Karev standing dutifully at her side, as if they were still a team, as if four years hadn't passed. They still worked together so beautifully, fluidly, anticipating each other's every step and movement as if they were dancing a choreographed tango rather than working diligently to save a life. In all her years of practicing medicine she'd never worked so well with another doctor.

At work they were a well-oiled machine. So naturally outside of work they were a car crash.

Addison glanced down at the baby. Maybe car crash wasn't the best metaphor to use in light of the events that had transpired.

She was spared from further ruminating when the OB/GYN (Lindsey? Lacey? Addison couldn't be bothered to remember.) attending entered the NICU.

"Doctor Montgomery, if I could just, uh," the woman stuttered, and Addison glanced at her white coat. Lucy. Right. Lucy stuttered. "I don't want you to think I'm a complete imbecile. The reason I didn't think about early steroids is uh, is I haven't had much trauma training."

Addison would have laughed if she had it in her. "Seriously? You're really worried about what I think of you?"

"Well, you've always been my…uh…I-I mean, your career is – is basically what I uh," Lucy laughed a little self-deprecatingly. "I wanna be you."

"Then stop making excuses for your mistakes. Stop whining. You say you don't have enough trauma training, shut up and get it." She couldn't help the cold tone that crept into her voice, but it was the wrong moment to be kissing surgical ass.

"Well that is one of the main reasons I came to Seattle Grace—" Lucy started to explain.

"Now," Addison snapped. "Shut up and start being a better doctor right now."

Lucy glanced helplessly back and forth between Addison and Alex, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout the whole exchange, and that's when it dawned on Addison. They were an item.

When it became clear Alex was not going to come to her rescue, Lucy left with her tail between her legs.

"Think she still wants to be me?" Addison quipped, surprised when Alex smiled in response.

"Man, that brought back memories."

She looked at him curiously. "What?"

"When you forced me onto your service because I mouthed off to you. You used to yell at me like that at least once a day."

"And you're a better doctor for it," she pointed out.

"I don't know about that," he said, self-consciously scratching the back of his neck.

"I hear you're making quite a name for yourself in peds."

"Yeah, well, didn't have much of a choice after the foremost OB/GYN neonatal surgeon picked up and left for an LA clinic," he said it teasingly, but there was some longing he couldn't hide. She knew he liked peds, she knew he had a gift for it, but she also knew he could have been so much more.

"It's not like there was anything keeping me in Seattle," she inwardly cursed the bitter tone in her voice. "Besides, I don't think your girlfriend, the attending OB/GYN, would be happy to hear you say that."

He didn't say anything at first, instead making a note in the baby's chart, concentrating so hard she was almost convinced he wasn't listening. A twitch in the muscle of his jaw told otherwise.

"She's no you," he finally admitted.

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes widening a fraction in surprise. Damn. He had a way of flooring her with just a few simple words. _'Because he was rude to you.' 'I'd notice if you went missing.'_ And now _'She's no you.'_

Ah, and then, of course, there was Addison's favorite: ' _You're not my girlfriend.'_

That snapped her out of it, and she went back to work. They worked in tense silence for a few moments before Addison couldn't resist. "So, you're with another attending OB/GYN," she started.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"Well, you certainly don't have a type," she said sarcastically. "Let me guess: you two didn't get along at first but then she got to see a side of you no one else does."

He swallowed and looked around the room at anything but her guiltily.

"You realize you're dating Addison-Lite," she pointed out. "She's me, but not _me_."

"I…that's not…I didn't," Alex stammered, and Addison decided to let him off the hook.

She burst out laughing. "Relax, Karev, I'm kidding. It's been years. I'm over it."

Alex smiled in relief, his face flushed in embarrassment. "Good to know you're still Satan."

"Some things never change," she agreed. "You've changed though."

"How so?"

She studied him for a moment. "You're…calmer. You're not as ready to mouth off over the smallest thing. You didn't bite my head off for putting your girlfriend in her place. The old you would have exploded."

"Well, you were right," he pointed out.

"That never stopped you before," she countered.

"True," he conceded. "You have me there."

They worked again silently for a few moments, Addison sensing he had more to say. He didn't disappoint.

"I have changed," he admitted. "A lot's happened in four years."

She stared down at her best friend's baby fighting for her life. Bomb in a body cavity. Meredith almost drowned. Izzie got cancer. George got hit by a bus. Derek got shot. Karev got shot. Callie went through a windshield.

"Yeah," she agreed.

Seattle was not a place where good things happened.

* * *

Callie and the baby were out of the woods for the moment, so Addison retreated to Joe's, the familiarity of the bar soothing. She exchanged pleasantries with Joe, ordered a Jack and Coke, and glanced around the bar at the other bone-weary physicians and hospital personnel nursing their drinks after a long day's work.

She felt a presence by her side, and to her surprise Karev sat down on the stool next to her. "Grab me a beer, Joe," he called to the bartender. Joe smiled and slid them both their drinks.

"What are you doing here?" Addison asked.

"Celebrating a hard day's work," he answered.

"No, I mean, what are you doing _here_ ," she motioned to the seat next to hers.

Alex shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

"I mean…where's Lucy?" Addison asked, exasperated by his non-answer.

"Who knows?"

"You should. You're her boyfriend."

"Not anymore I'm not."

Addison took a sip of her drink and waited for him to continue.

"It turns out not defending her to you was, like, the worst thing I could have done, _ever_ , apparently," he rolled his eyes. "So she's done with me."

"I'm sorry," Addison said, genuinely feeling sorry for the part she played in their breakup.

"I'm not," Alex said nonchalantly. "You said it yourself. She was Addison-Lite."

"I was just teasing," she argued weakly.

"No you weren't. You were right. Lucy was…she was like…" he struggled for a moment, staring at their drinks. "She was like if you ordered a Jack and Coke and got Diet Coke by mistake. It's almost the same, but not quite. A pale imitation."

He looked up and met her eyes.

"A pale imitation," Addison repeated, leaning in closer.

"Yeah," he agreed in a whisper just before taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly.

Four years melted away and they were right back to where they started.

She pulled away and for a moment they stared at one another, a million questions in both their eyes. She lived in LA, he was still completing his residency, and there was no logical reason it could work.

Seattle Grace was now Seattle Grace Mercy West and still standing. Meredith and Derek were happily married. George was resting in peace. Izzie beat cancer and moved on. Callie and her baby would be okay. And Alex…

He smiled. She smiled. They stood up and walked out together. They'd be okay, too.

Sometimes, Seattle was a place where good things happened.


End file.
